


An Old Friend and a Fresh Start

by CanineR7A7



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Author is salty, Marinette has people in her corner, Marinette protection squad, Other, Protective OCs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-13 01:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16883400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanineR7A7/pseuds/CanineR7A7
Summary: When Lila’s threats become too much and her friends can’t even stand to look at her, Marinette moves to a new school. She meets new teachers, friends, and heroes…but nothing made her happier than finding the childhood friend she never thought she’d see again.





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette gazed at the large building once she and her parents had got out of the car, the white and grey structure was clearly modern, especially with the amount of windows – though it already had a homely feel to it. A bubbly girl with dyed orange and cyan hair ran up to her while her parents went to get her room key, she would have gone herself but she had a feeling talking to the girl in front of her would be the better option.

“Hi, my name’s Samantha Walker, please call me Sam.” Marinette smiled at the energy in the girl’s voice, American for a guess.

“Hi, I’m Marinette.” Sam’s smile grew impossibly larger.

“Oh, you’re the new student who just transferred, I was hoping I’d run into you.” Marinette didn’t know how to take that.

“You’ll be sharing a room with one of my friends, and a communal space with the five of us.” The school was a weird combination of a secondary school, college and university mostly focused on art, design and engineering, though there were a range of other subjects available. Deciding that her parents would meet her at the room, Marinette grabbed one of her cases – Sam grabbing the other one before leading her to one of the smaller buildings.

“Each dorm building had four floors with five rooms and one communal space on each.” So that meant she’d be sharing a floor with nine other people at most, she couldn’t help but wonder how big the communal spaces were.

“Chances are you won’t meet everyone on the floor, a good chunk of the people studying here take night classes or prefer hanging out at the bar across the street. Me and the others don’t always hang out on the campus grounds but even then we don’t use the communal space much.” She supposed it made sense, Marinette herself preferred going home for lunch when she was at her old school and would rather spend her free time around Paris rather than just staying home. Sam pulled an ID card from her pocket and placed it against a scanner next to the door which slid open once the light turned green.

“The front door is opened by an ID card but the door to your room is opened with a key, you should get both of them at the same time.” Sam stated as she led her into the elevator, Marinette watched the number above the door change until they reached the fourth floor. She glanced at the hallway – three doors lined each side, one being the elevator they’d just entered from, the other five must be the dorm rooms. Sam led her to one of the doors at the end of the hall – room H5.

“This will be your room.” She stated as she pulled a split-ring from her pocket – it contained two keys and a key-ring in the shape of a guitar, Marinette quirked a brow, she thought she was sharing with someone else. Noticing this, Sam smiled in reassurance.

“Your roomie has a bad habit of losing her key so she had a spare one cut for me to keep hold of.” Marinette relaxed at the knowledge her roommate was as forgetful as she was. The two of them entered the room – the walls were pastel blue which fit nicely with the pale grey carpet. There was another door at the end of the room which Marinette assumed was a restroom, the dorm itself looked similar to the before and after pictures she’d seen online; both sides had a wardrobe, desk, and bed – her side being blank (obviously) – her roommate’s bed was unmade with one of the four pillows lying on the floor, the desk housed a laptop as well as several sheets of paper piled haphazardly all over it – faded mug stains covering the ones closest the laptop, the wardrobe had a sheet of laminated paper taped to it, the plastic covered in black fingerprints.

“Just put your cases on your bed for now, I want to introduce you to the others before we have to head off for our classes.” Marinette nodded and followed the other girl out the room, waiting for her to lock the door before they headed through the one at the end of the hallway. There were three boys lounging on the sofas when they entered the room, all of them smiling when they realised who was there.

“Hey Sam.” The one in the middle greeted as they stood up.

“Hey guys, where’s Kayleigh?” That name sounded familiar but Marinette didn’t know why.

“She’s probably tinkering at that bike of hers again.” There was a fondness to his voice so this was probably normal for them.

“Typical.” Sam sighed though there was no heat in her words.

“Anyway guys, introduce yourselves.”

“Jeremiah Dawson, just call me Jeremy, everyone else does.” Jeremiah was dark skinned, tall and muscular – he had an American accent with African hints. His doe eyes and friendly smile eliminated any thoughts of him being intimidating.

“Carlos Seyton, people call me Sailor.” He had a joyful expression, with pale blue eyes glinting under the light. Black hair styled into subtle spikes, each tip dyed light brown. She was guessing Australian.

“Ritchie Moores.” The final boy mumbled as he looked at something on his phone, wireframe glasses balanced awkwardly on his nose. Another American.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Marinette.” Barely five seconds later someone came bolting through the door.

“Sorry I’m late.” Marinette froze; she knew that voice, it sounded older now but there was no mistaking who that was.

“Kai?”

“Nette?”


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette gazed at the teen in front of her; Kai was two years older than her though that hadn’t stopped them from being friends. Her face had lost the baby fat, leaving her with slightly hollowed cheeks. Though her sea blue eyes had lost the childish naivety they still held the same confident glint. Her hair was the same, falling in messy blonde strands just below her shoulders with her fringe tucked behind her left ear.

“Kai, you’re…” Marinette trailed off when her friend held her hands up, revealing the engine grease smeared over her hands and forearms.

“Can we have the ‘my-friend-is-alive’ freak out later; I don’t want to get this stuff on you.” Marinette giggled slightly and nodded, watching as Kai headed back out the door, Sam following behind her. She turned to face the boys, all three of them looking at her in shock.

“So you’re the famous Marinette?” Jeremiah laughed good naturedly as he headed over to the adjoining kitchen.

“Famous?” She asked, she wasn’t famous, at least she didn’t think she was.

“Yeah, Kai talked about you all the time when we started hanging out, coulda sworn she’d made you up.” Carlos replied as he searched his bag, likely making sure he had everything he needed. Kai and Sam came through the door moments later, one with a key and ID card clutched in her hand, the other with a plastic bag in her hand.

“Your parents had to get back to the bakery; I think that’s what they said. Here’s your ID card and key.” Marinette smiled her thanks at Sam and quickly placed the items in her purse. Sam grabbed her bag from next to the door and headed off, the boys not far behind her.

“So just us now?” Kai joked; Marinette didn’t hesitate to throw herself into her old friend’s arms, who was surprisingly muscular now.

“It’s good to see you again.” The familiar English accent brought a smile to her face, Kai’s voice was deeper than most girls, had been when they were kids too.

“I missed you.” Marinette sighed as they separated, she’d never stopped thinking about Kai, the girl had been her first friend – her best-friend, though she’d never told the others about her – thinking of the others almost broke her smile.

“I missed you too.” Kai smirked as she picked up the bag she’d dropped.

“Not that I’m not happy, but why are you here?” It was a valid question, and Kai was one of few people Marinette knew wouldn’t judge her; she explained what had happened with Lila and her old friends – watching as Kai’s expression grew darker.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” She wanted to say it wasn’t Kai’s fault but the girl would never believe her, she merely watched as Kai thought about her words before her expression regained the confident smirk. Marinette knew Kai wasn’t letting the subject go, knew that her old friends would face a retribution far worse than anything Hawk Moth could dish out, but at least she wouldn’t have to worry about it yet – One of the reasons Kai was good at revenge was because of the amount of time she spent planning it before acting, it would probably be weeks after Marinette had forgotten their conversation before Kai acted.

“Hey I’m gonna take this back to the shop, wanna come with?” Marinette followed her friend out of the building and across the parking lot – the school had two, one above ground and one below ground – they carried on walking until they reached a small concrete building. Marinette watched Kai slide her ID card across a scanner before entering a pin number, the slightly rusted shutters rising moments later. Marinette couldn’t help but gape at the truck and motorbike parked inside.

“Most of the students interested in being mechanics take the engineering course, but that’s a bit too science heavy for the stuff I like doing.” Kai explained as she unlocked the deadbolt on the lone door at the back, there was the sound of a locker door slamming shut before she came back out.

“Had a convo with the engineering teacher, they weren’t doing anything with this garage beyond using it for storage so the board let me use it.” She said as she relocked the door and noted something on a battered clipboard.

“I pretty much get to do whatever I want to these two, and just as long as I take pictures and do a bit of writing about the parts and upgrades – I’ll get a grade out of it, I’ll probably have to do some version of the engineering course at some point, but as long as I don’t blow anything up I should be fine. Plus I don’t have to waste time looking for a parking space.” The two of them spared another glance at the vehicles before leaving, Kai pressed a button below the keypad and Marinette watched the shutter close.

“I always knew you were a grease-monkey.” It was true, she remembered when they were kids, how Kai would always have the lingering scent of engine grease on her after spending her Sundays watching her dad tinker away at the family car. Kai laughed at the comment.

“Hey, I’m free for the rest of the day if you want to go and do something.”

“Not today, I still have to unpack my things.” Kai didn’t lose her smile, merely swung an arm around her shoulders and led her back to the dorm rooms.


	3. Chapter 3

They walked back to the dorm in a comfortable silence; Kai let Marinette unlock the door, claiming it was ‘a rite of passage’ or something. The two of them made short work of unpacking before sitting on their beds, Kai reaching down to pick up the pillow that had fallen from hers.

“So, figured I should probably ask this before Sam starts hounding ya. Me and the others have a group chat, wondering if you wanted to join it.” Marinette nodded and pulled out her phone, it was a new one – she didn’t think she was ready for her old friends to try contacting her and she couldn’t bring herself to delete anything on her old one. She exchanged numbers with Kai and quickly accepted the invite, laughing at the name.

“Lost Tribe of Eiffel Art and Design?” Kai merely shrugged.

“Don’t judge the name, or our screen names for that matter.”

 **Fire-Bird:** Hey guys, got Nette in the chat.

 **WALKING-DEAD:** YAY

 **Marinette Dupain-Cheng:** Sam?

 **WALKING-DEAD:** YES, ALSO

**WALKING-DEAD changed Marinette Dupain-Cheng to Due-Pain**

**Due-Pain:** so you told them about that?

 **Fire-Bird:** uhhhhhh

 **Sailor:** She did

 **Door:** One of her first stories.

 **Due-Pain:** Jeremy?

 **Door:** yeah

 **Due-Pain:** why Door?

 **Door:** long story

 **Android:** can you not do this in class!

 **Fire-Bird:** sorry Rich

 **Door:** sorry

 **Sailor:** Sorry!!

 **WALKING-DEAD:** SORRY

 **Due-Pain:** sorry L

Kai and Marinette laughed as they dropped their phones on their mattresses.

“Do you guys always text in class?” Kai just nodded around her laughter.

“Yeah, annoys Ritchie like crazy but he secretly likes it.” It sounded a bit weird but hey, Kai knew these people longer.

“what’s with Sam’s name?”

“Don’t let the first impression fool you, that girl is grouchy as hell in the morning.” Okay now the name made sense.

“She does know she can turn caps lock off right?”

“Meh, it’s her thing.” Kai answered simply.

“I should probably explain how the next few days will look for you.” Marinette leaned forward, she liked having a heads-up.

“So, new students get a three day grace period. Day one is for unpacking and meeting the people you’ll be sharing a space with, which was today. Tomorrow you’ll have a meeting to confirm a few things such as the courses you’re taking and rooms you’ll have access to, I won’t explain that now since it’ll be covered in the meeting. You’ll have the grand tour on the third day, mostly showing you where the on-site facilities are, fire-escapes, that kind of thing. Luckily for you, you transferred on a Wednesday do you’ll have the weekend too.” That actually sounded pretty good, she wouldn’t have to worry about her new classmates for a while which was a bonus after the whole Lila fiasco.

“Don’t worry, the people here a nice, you’ll find a routine soon enough.” Hopefully she wouldn’t gain another reputation for lateness, though that wouldn’t be very likely, not if Kai was still an early riser.

“What kind of things are there to do around here?” Because as much as she liked her new friends already, she would like to know some things she could do while they were in classes.

“There’s an arcade down the street, a collectors slash game shop near that. There are a couple of clubs on site that you can join if you want, though they’re more aimed at the university bracket students.” It would be weird going to school with university and college students, though she’d choose that over friends who turned their backs on the word of a liar.

“What bracket are the others?” Because she already knew Kai would be in the college bracket.

“Sam and Sailor are in the secondary school bracket, Jeremy’s in the college one with me.”

“What about Ritchie?”

“He’s a bit of a whiz kid. He’s fifteen but smart enough for university level work. Since we’re meant to be in education until we’re eighteen, it was easier to sign him on a university course with a couple of college ones.” They talked for a few more minutes before calling it a night, deciding to wait until the others were free before making plans for the weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette woke up the next morning to a hand shaking her shoulder, she grunted sleepily as she rolled over, glaring at Kai who had already gotten changed.

“Time to get up Nette, I got you breakfast.” Marinette grudgingly sat up, glaring at the plate as though it was the only reason she was awake. She ate the food quickly, Kai taking the plate back to the kitchen while Marinette got changed. Marinette left the room only to see Kai leaning against the wall next to it.

“Figured I’d take ya to your meeting before I headed to my lesson.” Marinette smiled in thanks and the two of them set off, Kai’s arm once again around her shoulders. They passed a few people as they walked across the campus, some greeting Kai while others asked her to have a look at their cars, Marinette was surprised when they all gave her a brief smile before heading to their own classes.

“See, the people here are nice, you’ll find your feet soon enough.” The taller girl smiled at her once they’d reached the room, Kai knocked the door and a rather willowy man with gelled hair answered the door.

“Morning Sir, I was just helping Marinette find the room.” She smiled politely at the teacher; the man had a friendly face and directed both of them inside.

“Marinette please take a seat at the desk, I’ll be with you shortly. Kayleigh so I need to write a note for one of your teachers?” Kai pulled a timetable from her pocket and nodded.

“Yeah, Mr Calhall if you wouldn’t mind sir.” She answered respectfully, the man quickly wrote a note and motioned for Kai to leave, the girl spared an encouraging smile in Marinette’s direction before hurrying off.

“Now, don’t take your friend’s words as example, my name is Mr Remi – we don’t expect our students to address us as ‘sir’.” Marinette smiled in reassurance, she knew that was just Kai’s nature.

“Now, you have already been informed of the school’s expectations of you, so this meeting is just to explain the bracket you are in, and what extras you will have access to.” Marinette just nodded, the smile remaining on her face.

“Firstly, as you are in the secondary education bracket, your courses shall remain the same as the ones you were taking at your previous school so I won’t be going into any extra detail with that.” He explained before pulling a few sheets of paper from his desk.

“Now, there is one matter I wish to discuss with you before we go any further. Records from your old school show that you have had issues with tardiness throughout the year, you don’t have to explain the reasoning behind it, only what we can do about it.” That seemed reasonable enough.

“That is a personal issue I don’t really want to go into Mr Remi.” Because how else could she explain being Ladybug in a way that didn’t look suspicious.

“That is completely understandable Marinette, just know that there are counsellors on site should you need any advice, and know that they are prepared to answer any question even if you are asking on behalf of a friend.” Marinette breathed a barely perceptible sigh, at least this school wasn’t as much as an akuma risk as her old one.

“Now, in terms of working around the potential lates. If you are late to a lesson, or if you miss one entirely for whatever reason, you should ask the teacher for the work you missed. As long as you have a valid reason for the lateness or absence you shouldn’t be punished.” She merely smiled in response.

“Now, as living at school is a new experience for you, I wanted to ask about hobbies and interests – this is standard procedure for all students – so that I can give you some information about what the school offers.” Marinette pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag, her parents had advised her to write everything down, and handed it the teacher. He read over it before he began speaking.

“Class rep is very impressive, we do have a school council that I can give you an information packet about – it may be slightly different to what you did at your old school but the option is still there.” Marinette accepted the packet and quickly put it in her bag.

“Do you have any examples of the fashion pieces you have been working on?” She handed him her sketch pad which had a few pictures of the things she’d worked on taped to the inside cover.

“Very well, I shall inform the textiles teachers that you are permitted to use the machinery in there unsupervised, though you may have to use it when one of them is in there for the first few times. They’ll explain that in more detail themselves.” The rest of the meeting passed relatively smoothly and Marinette felt a lot less worried about the transition than she had done last night. Mr Remi held the door for her as she left and she was pleased to see Kai waiting outside.

“I thought you had lessons today.” She stated as the taller girl offered to carry her bag.

“I did but my classes don’t have much scheduled lesson time, but that doesn’t mean I always get to sit around doing nothing.” She explained as they walked to the main entrance, they could see the other four standing outside through the glass.

“Hey, me and the others are planning on going to the restaurant down the street, wanna come with?” Marinette agreed, deciding it was time to actually get to know her new friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette and the others placed their orders once they’d sat down, the six of them immediately beginning to get to know each other.

“What courses do you do?” She asked Ritchie and the two college students.

“I’m doing university level robotics and college level maths and science.” Ritchie answered as he brushed the few rebel strands of hair behind his ear, the dark brown appearing almost black in this lighting.

“Wood and metal work, maths, and geography.” Jeremiah told her before claiming the bottle of vinegar before Sam could reach it.

“Jeremy.” The girl whined while he just laughed.

“No, if I don’t have it first there won’t be any left by the time you’re done.” Marinette watched her blush while the others laughed.

“You already know about the mechanics thing, other than that I do computer science and history.” The history part made sense; Kai had been obsessed with it when they were kids, though she couldn’t have guessed computer science.

“Really?” Sam asked.

“I knew you did computer science but I never would’ve guessed history.” Kai looked at her as though she’d admitted murdering a puppy.

“Remember that band I told you about?” Kai asked, obviously shocked that she didn’t know.

“You’re a metal head; I thought you just liked the music.” Fair enough.

“You listen to metal?” Marinette turned to Kai, she still considered her one of her closest friends, but they had missed a lot of each other’s lives.

“Yeah, and rock, plus the occasional pop song.” So the main three then.

“Anyway, back on topic. The subject choice seems a bit random.” Sailor commented as he looked through the sauce packets.

“My dad’s a mechanic, he said that just as long as you know how to fix the cars it doesn’t matter what subjects you study. I’ve always liked history and computer science sounded interesting.” Kai shrugged, two waiters approached with their food. The six of them deciding to finish the conversation when they finished eating.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone each a burger the size of their head that quickly before.” Sam commented as they walked back to campus, a haunted look on her face. Kai just grinned as though she’d received the greatest compliment ever.

“It’s a gift.” She yawned as she glanced at her watch, Jeremiah snorted behind her.

“I’m pretty sure you traumatised at least three people.” He laughed as he ducked her fist, Marinette would’ve been worried but she could tell they were joking.

“Hey, at least I didn’t down three glasses of God damn Pepsi as though I’d been dehydrated for a month.” She sent a very pointed glare at Sam as she said this, the violet eyed girl pretending not to notice.

“Honestly, you’re worse than us.” Sailor taunted as he twirled his room key.

“Leave me out of it.” Ritchie grunted as he shoved past his roommate.

“I’m not letting you in the room if you lose your key.” Sailor immediately shoved it back in his pocket making the whole group laugh.

“You didn’t have to pay for all of us Sailor.” Marinette commented, the boy immediately waved her comment off.

“Kai can explain it to you.” Marinette raised a brow at her friend.

“Basically, Sailor’s family is crazy rich, like richer than the Mayor of Paris rich.” Okay she’d like to see Chloe’s face if she ever found out but that wasn’t a good enough reason in her book.

“His folks wanted him to go to some fancy boarding school, which ain’t exactly Sailor’s scene.” True, after seeing the six of them today she could imagine how much he would have hated it.

“He eventually talked them into letting him come here; the only catch is he has to work for the family business when he finishes Uni, so it’s a while off yet.” Jeesh, she didn’t know how she’d cope if that happened to her.

“But technically he can still quit so it’s not as though they can force him to do it for the rest of his life.” Okay, not as bad then.

“So, he’s using this time to spite them as much as he can by paying for public transport even though he can get a personal drive at the drop of a hat, and paying for anything we want slash need.” So at least he genuinely wanted to do it, but she still wasn’t comfortable with the idea.

“Now I know what you’re thinking, and trust me, we don’t necessarily like it either. Which is why we have some rules regarding it; one, he can only buy us stuff if he just so happens to be in the store with us, two, wait until it’s close to our birthdays unless it’s something we need, and three, we have to do him a favour in return. He’d quite happily do it all the time with no favour in return, but we all know how easy it can be to start taking advantage of someone.” Marinette relaxed then, she might not let him do it for her even if they are at the same store, but it was good to know that they couldn’t abuse it even if they wanted to. The others headed to the communal room when they got back, Marinette heading to her room so she could talk with Tikki, that’s when they heard the screams.


	6. Chapter 6

Ladybug darted through the Parisian streets, stopping once she saw what appeared to be an army of lizards; she didn’t need to turn around to know Chat Noir had landed next to her.

“We’re going to need back up for this one.” She knew who he was talking about and stopped him before he could leave.

“M’Lady?” She took a breath.

“Look, something happened with Rena and Carapace, I’m not sure I can trust them right now.” He saw his hesitation.

“Then wha-?”

“Find Queen Bee, I’ll see if I can get anyone else.” Chloe may not like her very much but that hadn’t gotten in the way during her fights as Queen Bee, she just wasn’t ready to face the other two yet. She watched Chat Noir leave and hurried back to the dorm building, slipping in the communal space through the open window.

“Marinette?”

“Yeah, wait what? How did you?” Her new friends were staring at her, determination shining in their eyes.

“We’ll explain later, but right now? Say hello guys.” She watched as a kwami drifted out of each of their bags, each resting by one of her friend’s sides.

“Thank you.” She smiled, Ritchie stepped forward first, the lion kwami beside him.

“Leon, roar on!” His suit looked vastly different to any other miraculous holder she’d seen, it greatly resembled armour and followed a silver color scheme with orange highlights, turquoise markings running all over it. The main appeared to be a weird mix of a helmet and hood with the mask covering his entire face.

“Furo at your service.” Sailor stepped forward next, the bull kwami hovering near his shoulder.

“Tauro, horns out!” His suit made him look much larger than usual; it followed a silver color scheme with brown highlights, red markings running all over it. Strangely enough the horns (though spikes was probably a better description) were on his shoulders and his mask only covered his eyes.

“Batter-Ram ready when you are.” Jeremiah stepped forward next with the kwami she couldn’t decide whether it was a phoenix or a rooster.

“Renn, flame on!” His suit resembled hers and Chat Noir’s more than the others, it followed a silver color scheme with red highlights, orange markings running all over it. He seemed to have something attached to the back which she guessed was a glider of some kind, him mask only covered the top half of his face and appeared to have a beak.

“Phoenix, not to be confused with Kai Phoenix.” Sam laughed as she stepped forward, the mouse kwami lounging on her shoulder.

“Twitch, whiskers on.” Her suit kind of looked like a spy’s uniform, if followed a silver color scheme with purple highlights, pink markings running all over it. She had some kind of armour over her ears and chin, the rest of her face being covered by an opaque visor.

“Horned Mouse ready.” Kai was the last to step forward, the wolf kwami beside her appeared different than the others.

“Lupus, howl on!” Her suit was a weird mix between a motorcycle outfit and sci-fi armour, if followed the same silver color scheme as the others with blue highlights, orange markings running all over it. The helmet covered the entirety of her face and greatly resembled a wolf head, Ladybug could feel Kai’s stare behind the orange visor.

“Fenrir at your command Ma’am.”


	7. Chapter 7

Chat Noir glanced up when he heard Ladybug return and gaped at the five people standing behind her, he didn’t need to look at Queen Bee to know she was doing the same.

“That’s some backup.” He stated simply, Ladybug merely smiled.

“Chat, Bee, meet Furo, Batter-Ram, Phoenix, Horned Mouse, and Fenrir.” Chat Noir furrowed his brow.

“Fenrir? As in the Norse wolf?” Fenrir just nodded, at that moment a projectile went whizzing past their heads.

“Uh, can we do this later? Preferably when we’re not under fire.” Horned Mouse commented as they ducked another, and honestly? Not being able to see any part of her face was terrifying.

“We managed to find the leader but we can’t get to him with his minions everywhere.” Queen Bee huffed as she narrowly avoided getting hit in the head.

“I’ve got an idea.” Furo called over, the others watched as he approached the army of lizards.

“I am your King!” He yelled, the others watching as the lizards in front of them were transformed into lions.

“Nice, he has control over them.” Batter-Ram cheered as he charged one of the few lizards that remained.

“Now to find the akuma.” Ladybug commented, Furo merely nodded.

“You heard the lady, find it.” The heroes watched as the lions ran off.

“I think they found him.” Ladybug smiled appreciatively at him and the team hurried after them, stopping once they reached the Eiffel tower.

“We’re going to need a distraction.” Ladybug stated when she notice the amount of lizards surrounding the akuma.

“Leave that to me.” She watched Fenrir stalk forward, the hero murmured a phrase she couldn’t make out and suddenly there was five of her, the other four lacked the orange markings and the blue and silver had been swapped around.

“She can clone herself?” Chat Noir asked in disbelief as they watched confusion overwhelm the akuma.

“He doesn’t know which one’s the real one, now’s our chance.” Batter-Ram, Furo, Horned Mouse and Phoenix split up to deal with the remaining lizards, Furo’s lions charging alongside them. Ladybug, Chat Noir and Queen Bee ran directly at the akuma who was still trying to deal with the Fenrirs.

“Lucky charm!” Ladybug yelled and easily caught the item, not even needing lucky vision to know what to do with it.

“Fenrir!” She yelled, smiling when only the real one glanced at her.

“Catch!” She called out, watching as her friend realised what to do. Two of the clones ran towards the item, each of them catching one of the sides. The akuma lashed out and struck one of the other two clones causing it to immediately evaporate, Ladybug didn’t know whether that was the akuma’s power or whether that would happen every time they were struck, but she decided not to question it for now.

“Queenie, get ready.” She watched the Fenrir clones position the lucky charm behind the akuma.

“Now!” Queen Bee launched upward, quickly stinging the akuma as he fell backwards. Chat and Ladybug quickly joined her; she watched Chat destroy the akumafied object and quickly purified the akuma. They watched the miraculous cure take effect, the lions and lizards transforming back into people, Ladybug glanced concernedly at the way Fenrir stumbled when the three remaining clones disappeared.

“Pound it!” She watched Chat leave and was about to herself when Queen Bee’s voice stopped her.

“Ladybug, have you seen Marinette recently?” Oh great, why did Chloe want to know where she was.

“I can’t say I have, sorry.” Was it her or did Chloe genuinely look upset at that.

“Look, if you see her, just make sure she’s okay. I may not like her very much but it wasn’t fair what our class did to her.” With that Queen Bee left, likely to give the miraculous back to Chat Noir. Ladybug headed back to the campus with the others, trying not to focus on the way Fenrir slumped against Batter-Ram.


	8. Chapter 8

They gathered in the communal space, all of them dropping their transformations at the same time. Kai slumped back against one of the sofas while the kwamis hid away in Sam’s bag.

“So, this is where we explain everything?” Marinette turned to Ritchie when he spoke.

“Kai was there, she’d the one who should explain.” Jeremiah commented, they all chose to sit down. Kai wiped a hand down her face before saying anything.

“Why is it always me?” She joked in an attempt to lighten the mood though it wasn’t very successful.

“It all started a few months after you moved.” She nodded in Marinette’s direction as she sat up.

“Some villain showed up in England, only he actually liked getting his hands dirty.” That was an obvious dig at Hawk Moth but Marinette chose to ignore it for now.

“Five heroes fought him, called themselves the Dominators. Let me back track a bit.” The others groaned at the messy start to the explanation.

“There are multiple guardians out there, though only the one who gave you your miraculous was official. The one in England cared for six miraculous stones; the wolf, mouse, phoenix, bull, lion, and tiger. The villain wielded the tiger miraculous.” She’d guessed that already but chose not to say anything.

“Anyway, during the final battle; the tiger kwami, Bengal, tried to fight his master’s control. Though it was successful in ending the villain, Bengal was killed in the process.” Marinette gulped, she didn’t like the idea of the kwami being killable.

“Afterwards, the heroes split up in an attempt to safeguard their kwami; three went to America, one to Australia, the last one remained in England. I don’t know how these guys got hold of their miraculous but I’m betting it was a lot smoother than mine.” Marinette gazed at her friend in concern.

“As you probably already know, the miraculous stones can be destroyed, which wouldn’t be a problem if the Dominators had a team member that could cure the damage.” Oh no.

“Lupus’ miraculous was destroyed, I don’t know how or why, but what I do know is that it killed Eon’s Wolf.” She was guessing that was the name of the previous wielder.

“Lupus was left with little choice and I happened to be walking past the alleyway at the time. He bound himself to my pendant, it managed to save him but there are some complications.” She wasn’t liking how this conversation was going.

“The miraculous stones were designed especially to house the kwami, which meant that when Lupus bound himself to my pendant he was forced to bind his life energy to mine.” So Kai was a walking miraculous stone.

“What this means is that my powers are a lot stronger than other wielders because Lupus can put more energy into them, but all power has its drawbacks.” That sounded ominous.

“Whenever I use my special power, it drains my energy as well as Lupus’ so he can maintain the transformation for longer but I’ll be weaker when it finally drops.” That didn’t sound good.

“One thing I should mention, that I know I’m going to regret, is that my clones can use the special power too – but that can be… dangerous.” Marinette could feel the tension in the room; Sam was the one who asked what everyone wanted to know.

“How dangerous?” Kai pinched the bridge of her nose, likely preparing herself for their reaction.

“If I just use the special power once, I’ll be fine after I’ve slept for a couple of hours. If my clones use it, I could end up in a coma… or dead…depends on how much energy I’ve already used.” The room was quiet for a few moments before they started freaking out.


	9. Chapter 9

Sam had hustled both of them back to their dorm room following Kai’s admission, staying behind to stop the boys from freaking out too much. Marinette stared as Kai collapsed in her bed, not even bothering to get changed; she sat on her own and decided to wait for her old friend to speak.

“I’m sorry.” Marinette glanced at her in shock, not actually expecting her to apologise for anything, she watched as Kai dragged herself into a sitting position.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Because it would have been nice to know that the power was dangerous for her to use.

“Ladybug came through the window, there wasn’t much time.” Which, fair, but it still would have been nice to know.

“I was going to tell you, ya know? About Fenrir, about the others.” She watched as the other girl leaned forward and began untying her laces.

“Why?” She hadn’t told Alya she was Ladybug, though she realised it was different for Kai and her friends.

“You’re my best-friend; we used to tell each other everything when we were kids. Then, you moved and…I guess I never really got that close to anyone again. I mean Sam and the others are great, but I didn’t meet them until I started here. Then you turned up, I guess I just wanted that back.” Marinette felt guilt welling up, she never stopped thinking about Kai but she always assumed that the other girl would have a new partner-in-crime soon enough. Unfortunately, Kai caught the expression on her face.

“Hey. Stop that. It wasn’t your fault that you moved, and it certainly wasn’t your fault that I didn’t make a new friend. If anything I should be apologizing to you.” What? That didn’t make any sense.

“I knew you’d moved to Paris, I could’ve used the house-phone to call you, but I didn’t. Then, when I moved here – granted I didn’t know where you lived – but I saw you on TV with Jagged Stone, I could’ve searched all the bakeries in Paris till I found you but I didn’t. Why? Because I was a coward, I was afraid that you wouldn’t remember me, afraid that I’d been replaced. But now? You’re here, and the reasoning behind it only makes me wish I’d tried to find you.” Marinette had to force herself not to cry, because how could Kai think she’d ever replace her, that she wouldn’t have remembered her? She didn’t hesitate to launch herself at the other girl, muscular arms immediately wrapping round her.

“Stop it. If it wasn’t my fault it definitely wasn’t yours.” She stated. The two of them were silent after that – Marinette breathed in, catching the familiar scent of engine grease, apple and sweat; it reminded her of when she used to visit Kai every Sunday, how the scent clung to every crevice of her friend’s house. She felt the other girl’s breath against her head, each one deep and measured in the way only exhaustion can bring. She felt Kai’s grip tighten briefly before the two of them reluctantly separated.

“We should get ready for bed, and by we I mean you.” Marinette stated, watching as Kai merely nodded and headed to the en-suite to get changed. She came back through the door moments later, immediately collapsing against her mattress as the exhaustion won.

“You do know I won’t be able to move tomorrow right?” A slight exaggeration but Marinette didn’t think Sam would allow Kai to leave the building, not after what they just heard.

“You’ll be okay right?” She didn’t want to lose her again, not after only being reunited for a short period of time.

“Don’t you worry about me, just focus on your tour.” Easier said than done.


	10. Chapter 10

Marinette woke up the next morning to see Kai still asleep, the fight must’ve taken a lot out of her if the heaviness of her breathing was any indication. Marinette got out of bed and quickly got changed before slipping out the room, just because she wasn’t starting her lessons yet didn’t mean she was planning on lounging all day. She headed into the communal space, having to hold in a laugh when she saw what Kai meant about Sam being grouchy in the morning.

“What are you so happy about?” The other girl grunted as she downed a good portion of whatever was in her mug.

“Are the boys up yet?” She asked instead as she pulled one of the mugs from the shelf, Sam downed the remainder of her mug, looking more awake than she was five seconds ago.

“Ritchie’s probably in class already, Sailor’s probably already late and Jeremy doesn’t have a class ‘til this afternoon.” Sam reeled off as she dumped the empty mug in the sink and headed over to one of the sofas.

“What about you?” Because Sam was in the same bracket as her and Sailor so she was probably late too.

“I’m not going to classes today. Kai only had shop time scheduled so she doesn’t have to worry about coming up with an excuse, I’m staying around here to make sure she’s okay, I’ll collect the work from my teachers later.” So Sam was the mom friend in the group, good to know. Marinette had her breakfast while Sam listed off the things she’d see in her tour, she’d thought about getting some food ready for Kai when she woke up but ultimately decided against it – her friend always had a weak stomach for a few hours after she’d woke up, she doubted that had changed over the years.

“Do you think Kai’ll be okay?” Because she had to hear it from someone who wouldn’t try to stop her worrying.

“Kai’s tough, I know we were stressing about her last night but she’ll be fine. We were all a bit hyped up so we over-reacted, Kai would never do something that she thought would kill her, not if there are other options.” Truthfully? She already knew that, but she had to make sure she wasn’t the only one.

“Thanks Sam, I needed that.” The other girl nodded as checked something on her phone.

“Hey, would it be extremely stereotypical if I got her a mug of tea later?” Marinette couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“No, she can argue against the stereotype all she likes but she loves tea, not as much as she likes coffee but still. The more sugar the better.” Sam nodded thoughtfully at her words, quickly pocketing her phone and standing.

“I’ll go and get a box then, see ya Due-Pain.” Oh great, that nickname was sticking again.


	11. Chapter 11

The tour went a lot faster than she thought it would, the school was nowhere near as large as it had appeared two days ago, something that she was thankful for. She slipped into her room quietly, not knowing whether Kai had woken up yet or not, she slid her bag under her bed before checking her friend’s side of the room. Kai wasn’t in bed so she must’ve recovered while Marinette wasn’t there; the quilt was draping half-off the mattress with two of the pillows pressed against the wall.

“I guess Sam was right.” Marinette murmured to herself as she made her friend’s bed, Kai didn’t really care about the quilt but she liked the pillows being in place.

“What do you think Tikki? Should we go and find her?” Her kwami nodded happily and hovered near the door while Marinette grabbed her key, the two of them left the room and checked the communal space, Sam was lounging on one of the sofas, staring at the wall as though it held the answers to the meaning of life.

“Hey Sam, have you seen Kai anywhere?” The girl glanced up at her with a startled expression, obviously not noticing their presence.

“I think she’s in the shop, if not she’ll be helping Ritchie with something.” Marinette smiled in thanks and headed off to find her, feeling much more at ease around campus than she had two days ago. She approached the workshop soon enough and smiled when she saw Kai. The other girl was talking to one of the engineering teachers; laughing every now and then as they gestured to something on the laptop screen, at least now she knew why it looked so scratched up. Kai glanced at her, expression brightening.

“Hey Nette, this is Mr Elricson the engineering teacher I hand my work to.” The man had greying hair and kind eyes, gaining a smile when he saw her. The two of them shook hands briefly before the teacher returned to the conversation they were just having.

“So I’ll finish grading the papers and hand them to you Monday morning, you’d be much better at the engineering course than you claim Phoenix.” Kai smiled sheepishly at the man’s words, obviously not believing him.

“Thanks Sir, but I’m good for the time being.” The man nodded respectfully and left, the two friends watching him enter the main building before speaking.

“What was all that about?” Marinette asked as Kai worked on the truck.

“Eh, he was just checking on me, he does it every Friday. Just because I work unsupervised doesn’t mean I avoid the teachers, I hand in my work from the week every Friday and they give me feedback on the Monday.” She watched as Kai slammed the hood shut and brushed her hands on her jean legs, smearing a dark liquid over them.

“That’s not going to be easy to get out.” Marinette stated as her friend packed her tools away, the other girl let out a brief chuckle before replying.

“They’re my shop clothes so it doesn’t matter, better them than the stuff I actually wear every day.” Fair enough. Kai headed over to the backroom, returning moments later in a different set of clothes, all traces of the liquid washed from her hands.

“I don’t know about you but I’m starving, care to accompany me to the restaurant.” Marinette laughed at the over exaggerated accent and accepted. The two of them headed off as soon as the shutter doors had shut.


	12. Chapter 12

The restaurant felt surprisingly different without the other four, it felt larger somehow though she wasn’t entirely sure why. She watched Kai hook her jacket on the back of the chair, though the lack of sleeves made it kind of pointless. Her friend seemed surprisingly relaxed, she remembers when they were kids – how Kai would be charging around the playground without tiring – that was still true when they were with the others.

“So how’re you enjoying campus life so far?” Even her voice sounded calm.

“It’s different.” Marinette answered simply, Kai gained a shy smile, something she wasn’t used to from the blonde.

“Good different?” Marinette giggled slightly as she nodded, she may not be used to being away from her parents but it was worth it to see Kai again. The other girl glanced over the menu even though they both knew what she’d be having.

“So, do you just want something from the dessert menu or do you want a full meal?” As appealing as a full meal sounded, she knew that neither of them had enough money on them at the moment. Besides, she knew the others were planning on ordering a pizza later.

“Just a dessert for now.” The other girl smiled as she handed her the menu. Marinette glanced over to it while she listened to Kai hum some tune that she remembered from their childhood.

“Didn’t your dad play that?” She remembered the old guitar that he would be fiddling with whenever she went round Kai’s house, the old thing had been battered and held together by glue and duct tape but he could never have dreamt of parting with it.

“Yeah, ‘Winter in the Black Country’ he called it.” A server came over and Kai politely gave their order before speaking again.

“He still had it ya know, the guitar.” Marinette couldn’t help but gape at that, the guitar was barely holding on when she was six, she couldn’t imagine what state it was in now.

“Had to get new strings for it a couple of years ago but it’s still holding on.” Honestly? She kind of wanted to see it, if only to see if it still sounded the same.

“Hey Kai, can I ask you something?” She’d been thinking about something since she’d first laid eyes on Kai her first day.

“Yeah, shoot.”

“Why did you come to Paris? I thought you wanted to stay in England.” Her friend had been dead set on it when they were kids, and she knew how hard it was to change Kai’s mind once she was set on something.

“I did, but I got lonely after a while. I already said I never got close to anyone when you moved, the others already had their friend groups and I didn’t want to intrude on that. Then secondary school came and I couldn’t find anyone to mesh with, five years with no friends and having to watch others laugh and joke with theirs was hard. I knew you’d moved to Paris, so when I had to choose between an apprenticeship or college, I chose college and my parents found Eiffel Art and Design. At first I didn’t think I’d make any friends so I hoped I’d be able to track you down; even if it was just so I had someone to text. Then I met the others and, well, I didn’t feel as lonely anymore.” Marinette felt the guilt welling up again, when she first met Kai, the girl had seemed invincible, unbreakable. Kai had been known as the playground loner, even when they were hanging out, the statement had never bothered her then – but it obviously started affecting her later.

“I’m sorry.” She felt a hand being placed gently over hers; Kai’s hands were always cold and she could feel the calluses from the time she spent working on the vehicles.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, you weren’t the one who decided to move.” She lightly traced one of the tiny scars on Kai’s knuckles; she couldn’t remember a time when the skin was smooth.

“I still wish I was there.” Because then her friend wouldn’t have grown up lonely, and the selfish side of her mind realised the Lila fiasco wouldn’t have happened.

“What’s done is done, you’re here now, that’s all that matters.” Kai’s hand tightened reassuringly before she let go, the two of them sat in silence until their food came, allowing the chatter from the restaurant wash over them.


	13. Chapter 13

They headed back to their dorm room once Kai had paid for their food, the walk was spent in a comfortable silence and Kai’s jacket had ended up around Marinette’s shoulders at some point, the young mechanic’s arm around her waist. Kai had never been one for physical contact when they were younger, though that had clearly changed over time. The two of them got back soon enough and changed into their pyjamas before joining the others in Sam’s room, the communal space was currently being used by the night learners.

“Hey you two!” Sam called as they headed over; her roommate was one of the night learners and, from what Marinette had heard, was relatively chilled about letting other people in the space when she wasn’t there. The boys were sprawled out on the floor, the room wasn’t really big enough for six people and Marinette was fairly sure boys and girls weren’t meant to be in the same room.

“We still could’ve done this in either our room or Sailor and Ritchie’s.” Kai stated as she perched on Sam’s desk, Marinette claiming the chair.

“One, I didn’t know whether Marinette would be comfortable with all of us in your room. Two, have you seen their room?” Ritchie and Sailor gained matching blushes at the statement, Marinette hadn’t seen their room but Kai had told her it was twice as messy as her side of their room.

“Fair enough.” Kai conceded as she grabbed one of the pizza slices, Marinette laughed as her friend finished the slice in three bites, not having to look at Sam to know what expression she was pulling.

“Seriously, how do you eat like that? Do you have a portal in your stomach or something?” Kai sniggered as she wiped the grease from her face.

“It’s a gift.” She grinned as she mirrored her comment from the group meal, the boys laughed, quieting when Sam glared at them.

“Before we get too far off topic, I don’t mind if you want to do group gatherings in our room.” Marinette commented, pretending not to notice the appreciative smiles.

“Hey, you might even get Kai to start keeping her living space clean.” Sam laughed; Kai just rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

“Sam, I’m a grease-monkey, my living space is never going to be 100% clean.” Fair enough. They hung out for a while longer before dispersing back to their rooms, Marinette felt a content smile drift onto her face as she got in bed, the transfer had gone a lot smoother than she thought it would. The fact she had reunited with Kai had probably helped, she felt something pulse in her chest when she thought of the blonde. Oh no. She knew that feeling.


End file.
